Outline: The Hebrew Book of Job is universally acknowledged as an exquisite piece of literary art that ranks among the most outstanding compositions in world literature. Yet it is also widely recognized as an immensely difficult text to understand. In elucidating that ancient text, this inaugural Illuminations commentary by C. L. Seow pays close attention to the reception history of Job, inc…
Outline: With the expertise of a veteran biblical scholar and the wisdom of a seasoned pastor, the author skillfully guides us on Jesus' journey from the Last Supper to the cross. Through the lens of the Old Testament, the author navigates the Gospel accounts of events that include the meal in the upper room, Peter's denials, the taunts and jeers of soldiers and bystanders, and the anguish of…
Outline: This book addresses one of the central theological problems of Matthew's Gospel: what are the relationships between Israel and the Church and between the mission to Israel and the mission to the Gentiles? To answer these questions, the author traces the surprising transition from the Israel-centered words and deeds of Jesus (and his disciples) before Easter to the universal mission o…
Outline: Here the author argues with a wealth of documentation that the tradition views the origin and content of the Gospel of Mark have far more to be said for them than has been usually allowed by modern New Testament scholars. The author argues that the tradition contained in the Gospel is that handed down by Peter through Mark, and that the Gospel was written in Rome in AD 69. The famous…
Outline: Thought biblical criticism in its traditional forms continues to be widely practiced, it faces increasing hostility on two fronts: from biblical conservatives, who claim it is inherently positivistic and religiously skeptical, and from postmodernists, who see it as driven by the falsities of objectivity and neutrality. In this magisterial overview of the key factors and developments i…
Outline: Raising the current level of discussion, the author offers a positive but critical evaluation of biblical authority. Among other topics, he discusses the canon, the value of the Bible as historical evidence, the Bible's witness to the faith, and the place of scripture in worship. He shows Christians that critical reading of scripture is a help rather than a hindrance to their faith …
Outline: Against the prevailing models for understanding the Apostle Paul's interpretation and use of Scripture, the author proposes a fresh approach toward developing a Pauline hermeneutic. He combines historical criticism with an intertextual strategy that takes seriously the work of the early church Fathers, and in so doing fills a void in current scholarship. The author applies his method…
Outline: Rebelling against a century of Old Testament scholarship, the authors persuasively argue that the first eleven chapters of Genesis are not a literary patchwork by different editors as widely supposed, but are the work of one author of extraordinary subtlety and skill. Comparing Genesis 1-11 with primeval histories from the Ancient Near East, the authors urge their readers to apprecia…
Outline: In this latest additional to the popular handbook series, the author gives teachers and students a comprehensive guide to the grammar and vocabulary of both 2 Peter and Jude. Within the text of these intertwined Catholic Epistles, the author finds rhetorical features and stylistic elements often overlooked. Used in combination with traditional commentaries, students will be guided to…
Outline: The pas fifty years have seen powerful shifts in the methods and objectives of Biblical Studies. The study of Johannine Literature, in particular, has seen a proliferation of new approaches, as well as innovative exegetical and theological conclusions. This volume surveys the emerging landscape from the perspective of scholars who have shaped the field. Written in a conversational a…
Outline: How did early Christians remember Jesus - and how did they develop their own Christian identities and communities? In this revelatory book, the author explores how transgression contributed to early Christian identity in the Gospels, Acts, Letters of Paul, and Revelation. Examining Jesus as a friend of sinners, challenger of purity laws, transgressor of conventional masculine values…
Outline: This book explores the historical reasons for the creation of the book of James and the implications for the creation of the Christian canon. The author makes a compelling case that James was written in the mid-second century and is, like 2 Peter, an attempt to provide a distinctive shape to the emerging New Testament. This book bolsters the claim that the Catholic Epistles not only …
Outline: In this theological and textual guide to the book of Revelation, leading evangelical educators combine their efforts to examine the issues that most interest and sometimes trouble twenty-first century readers. With verse-by-verse explanations and background analysis, this handbook is a tremendous aid to understanding the scope of Revelation. Topics covered include a comparison of the…
Outline: In this book, the author provides a lucid and direct account of the significance of the Koran both in the modern world and in that of traditional Islam. The author gives vivid accounts of its role in Muslim civilization, and compares it to other scriptures and classics of the historic cultures of Eurasia.
Outline: The author gives us the kind of help we need to overcome the distance between the psalmists' world and ours. He explains the various kinds of psalms, the way they were used in Hebrew worship and their relationship to the rest of the Old Testament. Then he looks at how Christians can appropriate their message and insights today. Turning to the art of Old Testament poetry, he explains…
Outline: The author equips us to see a clear redemptive-historical progression that develops across the five books of Psalms. With the aid of charts in full color, he demonstrates how an intentional structure is indicated by elements such as the placement of acrostic psalms, strategic couplings of Messianic psalms with Torah psalms, and the grouping of psalms by topics. If you love the psalm…
Outline: In debates surrounding the New Perspective on Paul, the sixteenth-century Protestant Reformers are often characterized as the apostle's misinterpreters-in-chief. In this book the author challenges that conception with a careful and nuanced reading of the Reformers' Pauline exegesis. Examining the overall contours of Reformation exegesis of Paul, the author contrasts the Reformers wit…
Outline: In this volume in a widely used series, a respected Biblical scholar has gathered excerpts of the best that has been written about the literary dimension of the New Testament. From Origen and Augustine to such writers and critics as Gerard Manley Hopkins, Northrop Frye, and Eric Auerbach, among others of our own period, there is a fine array of excerpts reflecting many perspectives. T…
Overview: This comprehensive, controversial book is for everyone who wants to understand and apply the Bible -- and the New Testament in particular -- in a responsible, well-informed, and God-glorifying way. The author is an able guide, walking readers through a carefully field-tested twelve-stage interpretive process that pastors, scholars, teachers, and laypeople can use with benefit. - Move…
Outline: This book is for everyone who wants to learn how to observe carefully, understand accurately, evaluate fairly, feel appropriately, act rightly, and express faithfully God's revealed Word, especially as embodied in the Old Testament. - Follow an extensively field-tested twelve-step process to deepen understanding and shape theology (biblical, systematic, and practical). - Engage with…
Outline: In this stimulating study, the author examines Jeremiah's use of word language; the prophet's formation as an embodiment of the Word of God; his covenant preaching ad the crisis it precipitates concerning the recognition of true prophecy; and, in the 'oracles of hope', how the power of the Word of God is finally made manifest. The author, then brings this reading of Jeremiah to bear on…
Outline: This book is a collection of essays by members of the Society for Old Testament and Modern Study (ed. H. H. Rowley). The volume is not only a record of the progress of research in these areas but also a reflection of changing perspectives in Old Testament Study and an appraisal of important changes in method and approach. All the essays are well documented and provided with short bibl…
Overview: The New Testament books of James through Jude - the General or Catholic Epistles - can be overlooked due to their brevity and location at the end of the canon. They contribute much, however, to our understanding of salvation and Christian living. In this accessible introduction to laypeople, pastors, and study group leaders, the author explains the content of these letters and thei…
Outlined: Stressing the historical and theological significance of pivotal figures and movements, the author guides the reader through intriguing developments and critical interpretation of the New Testament from its beginnings in Deism through the watershed of the Tubingen school. Familiar figures appear in a new light, and important, previously forgotten stages of the journey emerge. The a…
Outlined: This book provides a fresh approached to the question by examining the works of Plutarch, a Greek essayist who lived in the first and second centuries CE, the author discobers three-dozen periscopes narrated two or more times in Plutarch's Lives, identifies differences between the accounts, and analyzes these differences in light of compositional devices identified by classical schola…
Overview: Religious communities that possess sacred documents define themselves, at least in part, by how they understand and interpret their sacred texts and how those sacred texs inform the community. The author has brought together thirteen outstanding contributors to this book in order to explore recent understanding of the ways in which the early Jewish and Christian communities of faith…
Overview: "The New Testament does not develop a systematic doctrine of salvation," writes the author. "Instead, it presents us with a variety of pictures taken from different perspectives." Viewed from different angles salvation may look like living under God's reign, freedom from internal and external forces, or the restoration of broken relationships with God, others, creation and even one's…
Overview: This book presents eighteen commissioned articles on biblical exegesis in early Judaism, covering the period after the Hebrew Bible was written and before the beginning of rabbinic Judaism. The essays, all written by experts in the field, are arranged in seven categories: Hebrew Bible, Rewritten Bible, Qumran Literature, Apocalyptic Literature and Testaments, Wisdom Literature, Hell…
Overview: In this book, the author introduces readers to the ancient Jewish writings known as the Apocrypha and Pseudepigrapha and examines their formative impact on the teachings and mission of Jesus and his half-brothers, James and Jude. Knowledge of this literature, the author argues, helps to bridge the perceived gap between Jesus and Judaism when Judaism is understood only in terms of the…
Overview: The Series set out to provide a programmatic survey of the individual writings of the New Testament. It aims to remedy the deficiency of available published material which concentrates on the New Testament writer's theological concerns. New Testament specialists here write at greater length than is usually possible in the introductions to commentaries or as part of other New Testame…
Overview: The Explorations in Biblical Theology series addresses the need for quality literature that attracts believing readers to good theology and builds them up in the their faith. Each title in the series combines solid content with accessibility and readability - a valuable addition to the library of any college student, thoughtful lay reader, seminarian, or pastor. This book answers th…
Overview: This book is an indispensable tool for those seeking to understand the multiformity of interpretation used in the rabbinic midrash, a collection of commentary on the Hebrew Scriptures composed during the dynamic first six centuries of the Common Era. Because this magnificent work of ancient Jewish scholarship was composed using several methods of interpretation, it must be read with …